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I was wondering if anybody else had seen these?

http://www.automotivelightingusa.com...oducts_id=1338

By the way they describe it you don't have to worry about heat build up and it shouldn't throw the cut off out of whack like when you try and put a regular HID bulb in the TYC projectors. Opinions? Flames? Beer?

 
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Sounds, and looks exactly like any other plug and play kit ive seen. The bulb looks to me, exactly the same as every other bulb I have seen.

The trick behind non projector HID lights is the housing. Cars like the older TL, Escalade, Mercedes Benz, etc. had specially designedd reflectors shaped to give the HID bulb a precise cutoff. They were able to do this because the cars didnt run a bi-xenon system, and the high beam had a seperate smaller reflector away from the HID bulb, so the low beam (HID) housing could be designed without a high beam in mind, and made only to reflect low beam output. Here is an example.


The main part is the low beam (HID). The reflector is only on the top of the bulb to reflect light down and forward. The portion below the bulb has no reflector, its just flat. In addition, there is a "screen" in front of the reflector to reduce glare. The high beam is closer to the grille, and runs its own seperate bulb and reflector.

Basically, with cars that arent equipped with HID headlights from factory, there is usually a good chance that there will be glare because an HID bulb and Halogen bulb have different light beam patterns and a halogen housing wont be set up the same as an HID housing.

Hope that helped you understand it all a bit better.

Cliff Notes: The kit sounds like any other ebay kit, just more lies and more money.

 
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Mmmmmmmm well that just sucks. I wish I had the time and the money to do the full retro with the TYC's, just don't have the luxury of either so that looked pretty simple. I figured since that was an h1 bulb, wich my projector takes, it would eliminate the glare issue if what they said about the arc was in fact true. That was what had me curious in the first place.

 
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Well in defence of TYC, I have seen some of their projectors do well without retrofits. Here is an example of an accord, just TYC and a P&P kit





You can try your luck. Pick up a reputable kit like Philips or McColouch, if you dont like it, you can always resell it easier than some no-name kit from China. You may get good results, you may not, I wouldnt take people's word here for it much because ive heard certain rumors here that I have proved wrong myself (for example the famous "intakes do nothing for our cars" when I felt a pretty good extra push from mine)

Id give it a shot, or better yet, see if you can somehow get a kit to try for free. Ask a friend or someone, if they can let you borrow one of the ballasts and bulbs, you can just pop em in and see how the cutoff is. That should definately help you with your decision. GL

 
Rep Power: 266

Word of warning...some Projectors do not fit HID bulbs. HID bulbs are skinnier but usually longer than Halogen bulbs, so doing a test fit before you buy would really help. Either that or call TYC, tell them your model# or application and ask if an HID bulb will fit

 
Rep Power: 243

lol i hear ya on the intake thing. I deffinately felt a zip when I put my weapon R in. Nothing insane or anything, but a difference. I felt a bigger difference when I corrected my oil levels and switched it to 5w-20 (I had 10w-30 in, old habbit!) Thanks for the help!

 
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Im on 5w-30...trying to be nicer to be 118k mile motor

 
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... said the guy who's car caught fire

 
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Pardon me for being ignorant on the subject, but what is the fire hazard? Wire gauge? Lack of fuse? No addition grounding?

 
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I heared a lot of rumors about HID on TYC projectors H1.Some people say the HID bulbs are longer than normal hollogen.also depends on what brand you buy cheap or high end .Ive seen TYC projector w/ HID and some are not good and some work perfectly no glare at all.

 
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Yes, +1 on that...

I have a set of ebay pnp kits and would like to know. I have had them in for about 6 months no probs.

 
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Are they in stock housings or tyc's?

 
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tyc projectors for the civic are horrible (heck, even with a halogen bulb they arent the greatest). 1. if you decide to try a kit out, youre gonna need a heavy duty wire harness with relay so your stock wiring doesnt catch fire from not being able to carry the necessary current to the bulbs during ignition. 2. youre gonna have to shave down the housings, because the H1 hid kit bulb will not even fit. have fun doing that, and most likely getting shavings inside your light housing as a result. 3. great, you finally cut up the housing and fit the bulb in, you turn everything on only to get probably less light than stock making it to the ground and a terrible blurry cutoff line with glare and ghost spots all over. yay! throw everything away and start over.

 
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that sounds like tons of fun. I actually don't mind the TYC's. They aren't THAT different from what my stock were to be honest. I wish they were a bit brighter, that's a bout it.

 
Rep Power: 278

since we're on the topic .. I just installed a 6000k HID kit w/ the wire harness and relay that takes power from the battery, and I love the mod it lights up the road nicely and the blue looks cool.. Since I have 04' headlights I can also use the high beam at the same time, but it looks terrible b/c its the yellow halogen is it illegal to have 4 HL bulbs on at the same time? b/c if it isn't I'd get some standard white halogen high beam bulbs..

 
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if you want brighter tyc halogens, get a +50 H1 bulb for the main projector. like philips VP or osram silverstar (not sylvania). both are clear bulbs and increase lumen output from 1500 stock to 1800 for the +50. (thats 600 lumen total increase which is noticably brighter). here are my old tyc with osram silverstar clear bulbs. its decent output, enough to see with. but the uneven beam is kinda stupid. still, the three bright spots are more intense than the stock lights. check www.powerbulbs.com and autolamps-online.com or suvlights.com

 
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Just since we're talkin' bout HID's... I have 8000K on Projector's. I love them... should definately go with Projectors and HID combo! What do ya'll think?

 
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anyone have picture of HID light output in the stock housin head lamp? Would it make a big diff. if the blub came wit a glare shield or not ? cuz the stock housin head lamp already have a shield.

 
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The reason you need a harness is because the ballasts take a lot more amps to ignite the hid bulbs then halogens. The stock harness is not designed to more a significant amount of amps. Thats why people eventually fry there stock harness.

After the initial startup, the amp useage is the same as stock bulbs.

Hid harness = $40-60.


New factory harness from honda = bending over to the dealership

take your pick.

i would save for a retro. i say do it right the first time or not at all.

Example

my tsx retrofit on my jdm lights

see how sharp the cut off is?

My car also flicker's blue and purple from a distance like a bmw or mercedes

 
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since YOU asked, i think they look rice. way to blue to be practical. but that's just my opinion. that's not what OEM HIDs look like at all. OEM are pure white. that's what mine are. 4300k. i wouldn't go any darker either. i've driven with blue headlights before and you can't see jack at night compared to 4300k HIDs.

back to the OP, i will ditto everything said here about harnesses. you DEFINITELY NEED one. depending on the ballast, the HID's can pull 2-4 times more current than stock halogens during startup. cheap ebay PNP kits tend to pull more current than high quality OEM ballasts. i have both on my car so i'm speaking from experience. i run all 14ga wire on the harnesses i made. stock is more like 20ga.

 
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I say let them learn from first hand...I know it sounds mean....but for some people seeing them with their own eyes are better than telling....
There are three kinds of people dumb, regular, and smart

dumb ones never learn from his own mistakes...making same mistakes over...
regular ones learn from his own mistake and takes the right direction...
smart ones are those who learn from other's mistakes and takes right direction...

But back to topic, I also have 4300K bulbs as well...also Matsushita Gen 3 ballasts for my projector with wire harness....I also keep spare ballasts and relays in the car....even my wife is impressed by the amount of light that my car gives compared to her car....

 
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the only time you need a glare shield is for H4 hid kits (01-03 civic headlights). this is required because the stock halogen bulb also has a glare shield, it just happens to be built into the bulb on the bottom of the lo beam filament. so for hid bulb, you NEED the shield for it to work right in the headlight. even then, you will still have a lot of glare since the housings were designed that way. even the halogens are made to glare a little, to light up road signs. as for that 8000k kit, id be surprised if those bulbs are even making the same lumen as a halogen bulb. with 6000k, you are already down to 2400lumen, im sure yours is much less. so whats the point in having a blue light thats barely as bright as halogen, stuck in a terible projector that cannot even make use of the light properly, to give less overall light than stock? idk. when youve seen an s2k or TL in action, you will know what real hid performance looks like.

anyway, here is a pic of hid kit 4300K color in stock 01-03 headlamp. it doesnt look too bad, but there is not as much light as you would have from using a real hid projector.



stock housing with H4 sylvania xtravision clear halogen bulbs running at 15v (my current setup).



for comparison, here is an s2000 projector retrofit running 6000k hids (about 2000 lumen dimmer than the normal 4300K bulbs).

i am looking for some more pics to show you but this will work for now.

 
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You people are still as helpfull as ever and thats why I still come by here. Thanks for the heads up on the brighter halogen bulbs. I will use them until I can save for a retro or while I think about it. It is a pretty big investment but the light output looks like it is worth it to me.

 
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With that being said, gearbox, do you think these would work ok? http://www.powerbulbs.com/product_detail.asp?prod=114

 
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some of the best projectors for hid... if you have no clue about retrofitting and want a good job, and have around $1k to spend sometime, head over to www.retro-solutions.com they do great work.

acura TL (bixenon, has lo and hi in same projector)



s2000 (single xenon, lo beam only)

 
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no the nightbreakers are not as good as people thought. the coating robs light and makes them burn out faster. and theyre not as bright as others of the same type.

 
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heres a review of H1 +50 bulbs. i would stick with osram silverstar. the philips vp has a small blue cap and over time it tends to fade and make the colors look weird. stick with all clear bulbs.

http://www.autoexpress.co.uk/product...est_h1_50.html

http://www.powerbulbs.com/product_detail.asp?prod=86

 
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those HID kit on http://www.retro-solutions.com have glare shield ?

 
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so gearbox, your saying that a 4300k HID kit will fit in totally stock housing for 01-03?

 
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yeah, as long as you get the H4 size kit. its basically a d2s hid bulb with the capsule mounted on a H4 base so it fits the stock housing. but since reflector was not made to use hid, the output is not always that good. and alot more glare for other dirvers.